The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA), the primary voice of the technology industry in North Carolina, held elections for seats on its Board of Directors and its Executive Committee at the Association’s Annual Meeting and Outlook for IT held on February 2 in Charlotte. This luncheon event was attended by a sell-out crowd of over 400, and featured presentations from Michael Smith, Research VP at Gartner; Mike Manos, CTO of AOL Services; and Tom Becker, VP-Recruiting of Experis.

Allen West, President & CEO of Railinc, was named NCTA Chairman of the Board. West joined Railinc in 1999 and was named CEO and president in 2006. Under his leadership, Railinc has been recognized as an information technology leader and as a “best place to work.” Railinc won the Industry Driven Technology Company award at the 2009 NCTA 21 Awards and has been a finalist in the past two years for the Industry Driven Technology Company and the Customer Service Company awards. West has 25 years of experience in information technology and business management with leading companies in the transportation sector, including Sea-Land Service Inc., Tenneco Inc.; and Norfolk Southern Corp.

In addition to West, the following new and returning Board Members were elected: Harvey Braswell, President, Alphanumeric Systems; Ken Chinchar, Regional Vice President, tw telecom; Ted Claypoole, Attorney, Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice; Herb Crenshaw, Executive Director, Government Affairs, AT&T Chris Crespi, Enterprise Sales Manager, NC & SC, Microsoft; Yi Deng, Dean, UNC – Charlotte, College of Computing & Informatics; Chris Hare, CEO, nTete; Jeff Hoffman, CFO, Bandwidth; Enoch Moeller, Operations Manager, Google; Brad Phillips, RVP-Government Relations, Time Warner Cable; Buffie Rodri, Managing Director, Accenture; Carolyn Saacke, Managing Director, NYSE Euronext; Sandy Sands, Member, Nexsen Pruet; Ron Unger, President & CEO, WorkSmart; and Mark Wright, CIO, Inmar.

"NCTA is excited about our momentum for 2013. Our Board is aligned and ready to support us as we are poised to exceed expectations in the upcoming year," said Brooks Raiford, NCTA president & CEO. "We are especially excited to welcome Allen as our Chairman, and look forward to further expanding our reach throughout the state." Outlook for IT was the organization's first Signature Event of the year. This annual gathering of the Board of Directors, member companies and industry leaders across industries celebrates last year’s accomplishments and presents the goals for the year ahead. The event also featured a tech expo for member companies to exhibit their products, technologies and services.

About NCTA

The North Carolina Technology Association (NCTA) is a not-for-profit, membership-driven trade association and the primary voice of the technology industry in North Carolina. NCTA is the intersection of leadership and technology, fueling the growth of North Carolina through Executive Engagement, Public Affairs, and a Knowledge Workforce. For more information, visit our website at www.nctechnology.org.